3 worrisome Yankees issues that will persist beyond Rays series into 2027

The New York Yankees are an imperfect ball club. That much has been on display throughout the first two games of the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays. While some will point to the lack of Aaron Judge in the lineup as a key reason for the Yankees' struggles, one player alone, even an otherworldly force like Judge, can't remedy all of the team's ills.

New York isn't dead yet, but down 2-0 and facing elimination, it will take an epic comeback to down the Rays. Even if the Yankees can pull off that feat, they'll soon be facing a winter of uncertainty, trying to build back better and stronger than before.

What has come to light is a set of issues that likely can't be fixed over just one offseason. These are problems that are likely to linger into 2027 and could threaten yet another season and leave New York once again coming up short.

The Yankees won't be able to solve these three issues over the offseason

Hitting for contact

The Yankees have just five hits over 18 innings against the Rays. It started with Drew Rasmussen taking a no-hitter into the eighth in Game 1, which was a terrible way to begin a series, but was understandable to an extent. Rasmussen has owned the Yankees in the past, and sometimes that's the rub. However, to come out and get manhandled by Freddy Peralta and the rest of Tampa's bullpen? That's a problem.

Peralta's surface-level numbers had been much better with the Rays than they were during his Mets tenure, but despite some tweaks in his approach, what was going on under the hood was largely the same. New York had its shot in the top of the fifth, but with a bases-loaded, two-out scenario, the team came up just short as Cody Bellinger flew out to deep center. A few more feet could have broken the game open and given the Yankees a 5-1 lead.

The glaring issue the club faces isn't the product of one unfortunate inning, though. It's a consistent lack of ability to string together hits. In 2025, the Yankees posted a team batting average of .251, ranking 10th in the league. That came on the strength of Aaron Judge hitting a career-high .331 and taking home his first batting title. This year, that number has fallen to .235 for New York, ranking 25th. From June 1 onward, which represents the vast majority of the games the club played without Judge, that number falls to .230 and ranks above only the lowly Cincinnati Reds.

Judge hides a lot of the Yankees' ills, though it should be clear to everyone now that there isn't enough contact in this lineup. There are only a finite number of changes Brian Cashman can dial up this offseason, so lthis will be an issue that rolls into 2027.

Shoddy defense

Game 2 was a masterclass in how to ensure you neutralize your own ace on the mound. Cam Schlittler wasn't as sharp as he was against the Red Sox, but he was also constantly put behind the eight ball by his defense, which committed four errors and had numerous other plays that could have been disastrous.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. might be gone, and he probably sealed his fate with the ill-advised throwing error that got the scoring started for Tampa in the first, while later in the frame doing his best to throw the ball away into left field. George Lombard Jr. saved the second potential throwing error with a nice adjustment, but the errant toss eliminated any chance the Yankees had to double up the speedy Chandler Simpson.

Chisholm Jr. is just one problem, though. New York can move on from him and Trent "cement feet" Grisham this winter, but how much better off will the defense really be?

Aaron Boone is already hinting at a position change for Luis Garcia Jr., who was so bad at second base in Washington that he was forced to move to first to begin with. Moving Garcia Jr. off of first only serves as a token effort to rectify the poorly constructed roster that Brian Cashman created at the trade deadline.

Meanwhile, Spener Jones taking over for Grisham in center is an upgrade in theory, but in practice, Jones has looked uncomfortable roaming the middle and put up -4 defensive runs saved and -4 outs above average in just 315 1/3 innings in center.

Center field will be even more important as Judge ages and requires more DH days, but unfortunately, New York saw fit to bring in Heliot Ramos, who apparently neither hits lefties nor plays acceptable defense anywhere in the outfield.

Defense has been an issue for the Yankees for years, and they've consistently failed to rectify it. There will only be so many openings to fill, and the positions that do come open, like second base, will see a free-agent market full of poor defenders like Brandon Lowe, Luis Arraez, and old friend Gleyber Torres. Lowe and Arraez put together uncharacteristically good seasons in the field in 2026, but they have such a lengthy track record of shoddy glove work that it's hard to bet on that trend continuing moving forward.

George Lombard Jr.'s yips

This one might not be as certain (or as fair) as the others, but it's something to monitor. When Lombard Jr. first came up, he put on a show in the field, flying around and making acrobatic plays all over the place. Over his first 11 big league games, he compiled a mind-boggling 8 DRS.

But as time went on, the 21-year-old began to struggle in the field, committing nine errors in just 42 games. That trend continued in Game 2 when his fifth-inning performance allowed Tampa to pull away.

After booting a Chandler Simpson chopper that allowed Junior Caminero to score and the Rays to go up 3-1, he committed a throwing error later in the frame that led to Tampa having the opportunity to tack on two more runs, putting the game out of reach for New York.

The youngster received a ton of criticism during the regular season when his defense tailed off, and now, crumbling under the bright lights of October, it's worth wondering whether or not this will damage his psyche moving forward. Going hand-in-hand with the overall defensive issues the club faces, the Yankees will be in a very bad way if Lombard Jr. develops a case of the yips that carries into next season.

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